Medical issue might have caused bathtub drowning of 18 year-old

Todays News Briefs;

Hardin teen drowns in bathtub; foul play not suspected;

The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the drowning of Katelyn Snow-Marshall, 18, after the White Mills teen was found dead in a bathtub.

Katelyn Snow-Marshall and her son, Connor. Katelyn died mysteriusly by drowning in bathtub...Officials said foul play is not suspected. Snow-Marshall’s funeral is at 2 p.m. today at Cowherd and Parrott Funeral Home in Greensburg.

Obituary information from the Green County funeral home indicates the teen had a son and was preparing for a career as a model.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Greg Lowe said the sheriff’s office responded just after 4:30 p.m. Friday to the teen’s home at 276 Center Point Road in White Mills. Snow-Marshall had moved from Elizabethtown to that address a couple days prior, he said.

According to the responding deputy’s report, a relative in the home knocked on the bathroom door to notify the teen he was leaving to go pick up a child, Lowe said. At that time, Snow-Marshall responded.

By the time the man returned, the teen’s mother had found her unresponsive in the bathtub, Lowe said.

Lowe and Deputy Coroner John Clemons agreed no foul play is suspected. Asked what indicated that, Lowe said there were no signs of struggle or drug use.

Whether a medical issue might have caused the drowning is unknown, Lowe said, and will be answered in the autopsy report.

Clemons said it’s too early in the death investigation to speculate. An autopsy was performed Saturday, but the coroner is awaiting an official report and toxicology results.

A 30-year veteran with the Hardin County Coroner’s Office, Clemons said an accidental drowning in a bathtub is uncommon, but he has seen it in the county before.

Lowe said the responding deputy was Marvin Rhinehart. The case is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Office’s Detective Rex Allaman.

Visitation for Snow-Marshall begins at 10 a.m. today at the funeral home.

By Sarah BennettThe News-Enterprise

From around Ky. and W.Va...

Family of murder victim talks; 2 suspects ID'd as sons of Owen officials

By Kayleigh ZyskowskiThe State Journal

A Frankfort family wants to know why law authorities didn’t investigate a report Saturday night of a suspicious object – which turned out to be the body of a loved one – until Sunday morning.

Larry Monroe speaks about his brother, alleged murder victim Charles Monroe, while holding a photo of Charles' son Charles Jr.The body belonged to Charles Monroe, and officials found it dumped along the shoulder ramp of Interstate 64 from U.S. 127 around 9 a.m. Sunday

The Monroe family says a friend, who asked to remain anonymous, dialed 911 – connecting to city dispatch – around 11 p.m. Saturday and gave the license plate number of a truck dumping what he thought was a body on the side of the road. However officials say they didn’t know about the body until 9 a.m. Sunday.

Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton said he didn’t hear about the Saturday night call until late Monday morning.

“We are looking into that currently,” Melton said over the phone and declined further comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Police arrested three men in connection with the murder less than 24 hours after the incident was reported.

Joshua Hammond, 31, who has been identified as the son of Owen County Sheriff Zemer Hammond, was arrested in Franklin County; David Bruce II, 44, who has been identified as the son of former Owen County jailer David Bruce and the brother of the current jailer Cindy Bruce Walker, was arrested in Owen County; and James Simons, 35, in Grant County. All three are charged with murder and robbery.

The murder stemmed from an alleged “drug deal gone bad,” Melton said Monday morning. The three men met Monroe in the Walmart parking lot on Leonardwood Drive to purchase prescription pills, Melton said.

Deputies identified the suspects after conducting interviews early in the investigation, Melton said. Deputies found Monroe after responding to a call about a dead body, he said. He declined further comment.

Tammy Cook, Charles Monroe’s oldest sister, said Monday afternoon that the family friend saw – through his rearview mirror – two men dragging Monroe from the shoulder of the I-64 eastbound ramp from U.S. 127 through the grass.

“I guess they got scared when they seen him slow down, and they jumped back in truck and took off,” she said Monday from the family’s front porch on Skyline Drive where her parents live.

“You see it in the news, and you read about it about other families, but you never think it’s going to come home to you,” she said about her brother’s death.

“He left behind all of us, and all of us hurt,” said Larry Monroe, Charles Monroe’s brother, while holding his 8-month-old niece. “This family is destroyed because of three cowards.”

Hammond, Bruce and Simons – who each pleaded not guilty via video arraignments Monday morning – are being held at Franklin County Regional Jail on $200,000 bonds, according to the jail website. Their next court appearance is slated for May 15 in Franklin District Court for preliminary hearings.

“I know my brother’s done wrong, I know my brother was into drugs – I’m not denying that – but he did not deserve to be murdered and thrown to the side of the road and treated like a dog like this,” Cook said.

“We need answers, because there is no reason for this.”

Monroe was indicted for sexually abusing a child under 12 and intimidating a witness in March 2011, according to court records. However his sister disputes the charges, because Cook says the accusations came from an angry ex-girlfriend.